The fate of the missing affects all of Brazil. Even soccer legend Pelé called on Twitter late Wednesday (local time) to intensify the search for the two men.
According to a regional indigenous organization, the journalist Dom Phillips and the indigenous expert Bruno Araújo Pereira did not arrive by boat on Sunday as planned at their destination in Atalaia do Norte in the extreme west of Brazil. Pereira had previously reported to the police that fishermen had threatened him several times.
More than 250 security forces are looking for the state police Amazon meanwhile after the two men. Indigenous people, family members, friends and colleagues have expressed concern that the search has been slow and insufficient.
Phillips, 57, has lived in Brazil for 15 years and has worked for the British newspaper “The Guardian”. With Pereira, who worked for the indigenous authorities in the region, he had previously traveled to the Vale do Javari, which is difficult to access. Most recently, he researched for a book on the protection of the Amazon region.
With an area larger than Austria, the Vale do Javari is one of the largest indigenous areas in Brazil. Many indigenous people live in isolation there. The border area is also particularly conflict-ridden due to illegal prospecting for gold, deforestation and drug smuggling.
“Just two people in a boat, in a region like this, totally wild,” said Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. “This is an adventure that is not recommended.” Anything could happen. “It may be an accident, it may be that they were executed.”
A suspect has been arrested. So far, however, no connection has been made by him to the disappearance, said the state security secretary AmazonCarlos Alberto Mansur.
Source: Nachrichten
